Bicyclists remember their loved ones, show their support for one another during the Ride for the Missing (WITH VIDEO)

Participants in the Ride for Missing Children prepare to turn into the Ballston Avenue satellite office of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Sunday afternoon. The ride was held to support those whose loved ones have gone missing. (ERIC JENKS/photos@saratogian.com)

Participants in the Ride for Missing Children prepare to turn into the Ballston Avenue satellite office of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Sunday afternoon. The ride was held to support those whose loved ones have gone missing. (ERIC JENKS/photos@saratogian.com)

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- It has been more than 14 years since a classmate recalled seeing Suzanne Lyall step off a bus at the University at Albany. It was the last reported sighting of the then-19-year-old Milton resident who was returning from the part-time job she worked while pursuing her degree at the school.

But on Sunday, Lyall's flowing blonde hair and infectious smile could be seen by hundreds of people between Amsterdam and Saratoga Springs. Her picture was pinned to the shirts of cyclists as part of an event devoted to raising awareness about people who, like Lyall, have seemingly vanished without a trace.

It was a special edition of the Ride for Missing Children, which is organized by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Five such rides are held throughout the state to supplement the organization's efforts to prevent childhood abduction, recover those who have disappeared and support families with missing loved ones.

Approximately 50 cyclists participated in Sunday's ride, which for the first time included a lunch break at the center's Ballston Avenue satellite office that opened last year. Many of the riders have loved ones who are currently missing, so they pinned their photographs to their matching cycling shirts.

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Scotia's Matt Frear has been participating in the rides for the past three years, hoping to raise awareness and support for people who have experienced the same pain he has. His family has not seen his brother, Craig, since 2004, when he disappeared while walking home from a friend's house.

"It's not just for my brother and my family," Frear said. "It's for every single person that has somebody that's missing. We're out here for them."

Three photographs of missing people were pinned to his cycling shirt Sunday, though Frear placed Craig's picture on his front left side. It was perhaps a symbol that he and his family will always hold his brother close to their hearts, even as time elapses and the disappearance seems to fall out of the public eye.

The rides, which originated in 1995, have helped the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children create 7.5 million posters with images of 7,167 missing children, ride organizer Frank Williams said.

The hope is that someone sees a picture on a poster and something finally clicks, prompting the person to come forward and provide the critical piece of information that brings closure to a case. More than 5,100 of the children on the posters have been recovered, Williams said.

Sunday's ride wasn't about raising funds, he said, but was designed to show families of missing children that they do not have to face what can be an incredibly gut-wrenching situation alone.

That is a goal shared by Doug Lyall, who co-founded The Center for Hope after his daughter went missing in March 1998. Like the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Lyall's organization provides support for families with missing loved ones. Its office received more than 1,000 calls last year from all across the country.

"There's not a day that goes by that you don't think about it," Lyall said. "You wonder, you try and fill in the blanks. It's a difficult place to be."

Nancy Hieber has been searching for her missing daughter, Tammie McCormick, since April 1986. She said there was not a lot of support for families in their position 26 years ago, but the work of organizations like The Center for Hope and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has changed that.

"The biggest thing with the ride is you don't feel like you're alone," Hieber said.

John Kelly, the community educator for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said riders would complete the final 100 yards of Sunday's route on foot and, therefore, technically not finish the planned round-trip route. That gesture was to signify that the journey never truly comes to an end, he said.

"We will never give up hope for your missing child," Williams added. "We will never stop searching for your missing child. We will never forget your missing child."